Coherence analysis in the myoclonus of corticobasal degeneration

Mov Disord. 2003 Nov;18(11):1345-50. doi: 10.1002/mds.10535.

Abstract

We investigated whether myoclonus in corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is cortical or subcortical in origin. Many authors have suggested that the myoclonus in CBD is a subtype of cortical myoclonus, despite the fact that back-averaging fails to detect a cortical correlate to spontaneous or action induced jerks and giant sensory evoked potentials are seldom found. Electroencephalographic-electromyographic (EEG-EMG) and EMG-EMG frequency analysis may be more sensitive to cortical drives when EMG bursts occur at a high frequency and at low amplitudes as in CBD. We evaluated EEG-EMG and EMG-EMG coherence and phase in 5 patients with clinically probable CBD and unilateral, action-induced and stimulus-sensitive myoclonus. We found negligible corticomuscular coherence despite a dramatically exaggerated EMG-EMG coherence. We conclude that an inflated EMG-EMG coherence is found in some patients with CBD and that this is unlikely to be due to an exaggerated cortical drive.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Basal Ganglia / physiopathology*
  • Electroencephalography
  • Electromyography
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Motor Cortex / physiopathology*
  • Muscle, Skeletal / physiopathology
  • Myoclonus / diagnosis*
  • Myoclonus / physiopathology*
  • Nerve Degeneration / diagnosis*
  • Nerve Degeneration / physiopathology*